Nonprofit will move into old Fox Valley Park District offices

The city of Aurora has approved a lease for the former Fox Valley Park District offices at 712 S. River St. with the Elssy Fabela Foundation, a non-profit that serves Aurora families.

The city of Aurora has approved a lease for the former Fox Valley Park District offices at 712 S. River St. with the Elssy Fabela Foundation, a non-profit that serves Aurora families. (Steve Lord/The Beacon-News)

The Aurora City Council has approved a lease to bring a nonprofit organization into the former Fox Valley Park District office building on South River Street.

Aldermen unanimously approved the five-year lease for the city-owned building at 712 S. River St. The city will charge the Elssy Fabela Foundation $899 a month, after giving it a waiver for the first three months of the lease.

The foundation was founded by Augie K. Fabela Sr. in 1998. It has a commitment to providing education, leadership and support services to low-income Aurora families, city officials said. The organization offers after-school programs, family days and summer programs.

It just celebrated its 20th anniversary and has more than 47 graduates from its programs, including four doctors and 16 teachers, organization officials said.

The group originally was in a space at Fifth Avenue and Spencer Street, then for 13 years was at the Southeast Community Resource Center, also known as the Fred Rodgers Center. When the city stopped leasing space to organizations there, the company moved to a place in North Aurora.

The city took ownership of the building at 712 S. River St. about 18 months ago as part of a land swap between the city and the Fox Valley Park District. For years it served as the Park District's offices.

City officials have a long-term plan of building a storm-sewage treatment plant on the property to treat water before releasing it into the Fox River. The treatment plant is the culmination of the Long-Term Control Plan the city has which involves separating the combined storm and sanitary sewers in the older parts of the city.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has required the city be finished separating the sewers by 2029. Ken Schroth, Aurora's Public Works director, has said the treatment plant would be the last thing in the program.

He said the reason it is last is the city wants to separate all the sewer lines first, then see what kind of flow there will be in the storm sewers. The treatment plant would be designed to meet that flow.

Schroth said for at least the next five years, there would be nothing on that site.

The lease has an exit clause that allows the city to give six months of notice if it needs the building.